In the course of the manufacture of textile workpieces of arbitrary type for example, pillows, tablecloths, terry cloths, terry goods or duvet covers--one or more sections of fabric are stitched to one another in order to obtain the desired shape and structure of the workpiece. Particularly in the case of automatic stitching processes, types of stitch are employed--for example, chain stitch or overcast--that have the disadvantage that they can be unravelled from the end of the seam, as a result of which the seam comes loose.
In order to prevent the seam from coming undone from the end of the seam, seam reinforcements have to be applied at the ends of the seam with these types of stitch. If a special synthetic thread is used for producing the seam, the seam reinforcement can be produced by the synthetic thread being shrunk on, under hot air. If, as in most cases, a synthetic thread is not used, a bar tack has to be stitched at the end of the seam at right angles to the seam in order to obtain a durable seam reinforcement.
One disadvantage of the known method for producing a seam reinforcement is that the stitching of the bar tack, with a view to reinforcing the seam at the end of the seam, constitutes an additional, cost-intensive manufacturing step.